Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,922 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,300 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,922 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $33,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the first quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $464.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 20th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded up $6.90 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $473.26. The stock had a trading volume of 75,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,417,612. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $449.35 and its 200 day moving average is $459.33. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.73 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 8.91% and a negative return on equity of 3.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.